the anapæst. But an anapast ought not to follow a dactyl, to avoid too many short syllables occurring together. 3. In the catalectic verse, or paroemiac, which closes a system, the catalectic syllable should be preceded by an anapæst. There are, however, some verses in which it is joined to a spondee. 4. The last syllable of a verse in this metre, with the exception of the parœmiac, is not common, but subject to the same laws of quantity as if it was found in any other part of the verse. 5. The following is a system of anapastic dimeters, closing with a paroemiac : εἰ γὰρ | μ' υπό γῆν, | νερθεν | τ' ἄΐδου || APPENDIX. EXCURSUS (A.) GREEK ALPHABET. 1. ACCORDING to tradition, Cadmus brought sixteen letters from Phoenicia into Greece; to which Palamedes, at a subsequent period, added four more, namely, 0, §, o, x: and Simonides, at a still later day, increased this number by other four, C, n, y, w. 2. The meaning of this tradition evidently is, that the Phoenician alphabet was introduced into different parts of Greece in a more or less perfect shape; that some tribes received all the letters, while others were content with sixteen; that these last-mentioned tribes, however, gradually increased the number of alphabetical characters, by borrowing, at two different epochs, certain letters previously used in the more perfect systems of other Grecian communities. 3. The old sixteen, or primitive Cadmean letters, are supposed to have been the following; the u being assigned to its true place as the representative of the digamma, and being indicated by the old sign of the digamma, namely, F. Α Β Γ Δ Ε Ι Κ Λ Μ Ν Ο Π Ρ Σ Τ. 4. A change, however, subsequently took place as regarded the introduction of Y, which was formed from the Faû, or digamma, by splitting its upper part. This new letter was then placed after the T, while the F itself was omitted. 5. The Ionians first adopted all the twenty-four letters; and of them, first the Samians, from whom they were received by the Athenians: but it was not till after the Peloponnesian war, in the archonship of Euclides (B.C. 403), that they were used in public acts. Hence the twenty-four letters are called 'Iwvikà ypáμμata; and the old sixteen, Αττικὰ γράμματα. 6. In the most ancient times, according to Pausanias (5. 25), the Greeks, like the Orientals, wrote from right to left. They soon began, however, to write the first line from the left to the right; in the second, from the right to the left; and so alternately. This was called βουστροφηδόν, from its resembling the mode in which the ox turns with the plough. So the Laws of Solon were written. But as early as the time of Herodotus, it was the established custom to write from left to right. EXCURSUS (B.) DIGAMMA'. 1. The whole subject of the Digamma rests on the following remarkable fact. A certain number of words beginning with a vowel, especially the pronoun ou, of, è, and also eidw, čoika, eiteîv, ăvaş, Ιλιος, οἶνος, οἶκος, ἔργον, ἶσος, ἕκαστος, with their derivatives, have in Homer the hiatus so often before them, that, leaving these words out of the account, the hiatus, which is now so frequent in Homer, becomes extremely rare, and, in most of the remaining cases, can be easily and naturally accounted for. These same words have also, in comparison with others, an apostrophe very seldom before them; and, moreover, the immediately preceding long vowels and diphthongs are far less frequently rendered short than before other words. 2. From an attentive examination of the subject, the illustrious Bentley was led to conclude, that the words before which these deviations from the usual rules of prosody took place, although beginning with a vowel, must have been pronounced at least, if not written, as if beginning with a consonant. He recollected that some ancient Grammarians mentioned a letter as more particularly used by the Æolians, or most ancient Greeks; and that its existence might be traced in the changes which some Latin words, derived from the Æolic Greek, had undergone; as, oîvos, vinum; ìs, vis; oikos, vicus; ip, ver. The letter alluded to, which, from its form, has the name of digamma, or double gamma (F), is yet to be seen in some ancient inscriptions, and on coins; and it supplies the data for resolving the cases of metrical difficulty, where the lengthening of a short syllable uniformly takes place before particular words. 3. Let us examine some of the instances which are found at the very opening of the Iliad. 'Ατρεΐδης τε ἄναξ ἀνδρῶν (v. 7): Αγαμέμνονι ἦνδανε θυμῷ (v.24): Απόλλωνι ἄνακτι (v.36): ὁ δ ̓ ἤϊε νυκτὶ ἐοικώς (υ. 47): θαρσήσας μάλα, εἰπὲ (v. 85). In all these cases, according to the practice of the language in the days of Attic purity, the short vowel ought to have been elided before ἄναξ, ἥνδανε, &c. But if we write Favak, Fηvdave, &c., or fancy the words pronounced Fava, Fnvdave, FeFoikis, Feimè, &c., the difficulty will, in a great degree, disappear. (1) Buttmann, Ausf. Gr. Sprachl. p. 27.-Buttmann's Larger Gr. Gr. p. 28; Robinson's Transl.-Maltby's Greek Gradus, p. xi, seq. 1. EXCURSUS (C.) ACCENTS. . In every polysyllabic word, one syllable is to be regarded as the Fundamental c or radical syllable; or, in other words, that which contains the principal idea of the word. The rest, on the contrary, which are prefixed or appended to the fundamental syllable in the formation of words, are, in respect to the idea, of less weight. 2. The ascendant importance of the fundamental syllable of a word is, in every dependent language, indicated by a sharpened elevation of the voice in its pronunciation; as, for example, du in duty, or set in beset. 3. This elevation of the voice in pronouncing one syllable of a word is called the tone or accent (πpoo día, accentus); which can occur only once in each word, and of itself is one and the same in all words; namely, the acute or elevated accent (poowdía ¿§eła, accentus acutus). As a sign for this, use is made of a stroke from right to left ('); as, for example, λóyos. 4. In comparison with the accented or elevated syllable, all syllables of a word which are not accented must be spoken with a depressed or unelevated accent (Tроowdía ßapeîa, accentus gravis). This depressed or grave accent is represented by an opposite sign; namely, a stroke from left to right (`); so that λóyos was in fact Móyòs. But, because every syllable of a word which has not the acute accent is necessarily to be spoken with the depressed tone, the sign for the grave is not used, but these syllables remain unmarked. 5. As an indication of the proper grave, therefore, is unnecessary, its sign is used for another purpose; namely, to mark what is called the softened acute at the final syllable of words in a continued discourse, and of which mention will presently be made. 6. If two vowels, the first of which has the acute, the second the grave, are united into one sound, this long sound receives a sign, which is formed by the union of those two, namely, ( ́`) or (^); for which, however, a circumflexed line (^) is more conveniently used', indicating that the accent is to be lengthened in the pronunciation (πpoowdia Teploπwμévŋ, accentus circumflexus); as, for example, δῆλος for δέλος, σῶμα for σόδμα. (1) A small final twist or curve is occasionally, although unnecessarily, added to the (^) accentus circumflexus; as, owμa. Position of the Accents, In order to accentuate a Greek word correctly, it is necessary, 1. To determine the syllable on which the accent rests; and, 2. To know the sign by which, according to the nature of that and the remaining syllables of the word, the accent is to be indicated. Concerning these two points, we shall here briefly assign what admits of accurate definition. I. Determination of the Accented Syllable. 1. A Greek word can have its tone or accent only on one of the last three syllables. 66 66 2. In simple radical words (that is, those which are formed with a definite termination from an existing root, and not derived from a word already formed) the accent rests on the radical syllable; thus, root Aey, whence λéyw,“ I say ;” λéğıç,“ expression;” λóyos, “speech." 3. In words which are derived from others, either by a prefix or an appended termination, the accent usually rests on the supplemental part; because this, as the sign of distinction from the radical word, defines the idea. Thus, from Aóyos is derived aλoyos, “speechless;" from κaρròs, "fruit," come ǎκapтos, “ fruitless,” and evκapTos, "fruitful;" from Aéyw are derived λeкròs," said,” and λEKTéos, 'to be said;" from Oǹp, “ an animal," is derived Onpíov, “ a wild beast.” 4. The nature of the final syllable has a decisive influence on the position of the accent; namely, if the final syllable of a word be long by nature, the accent cannot lie farther towards the beginning of the word than on the penultimate syllable. For a long syllable being equal to two short ones, if the accent were placed on the antepenult when the last syllable is long by nature, it would be placed, in fact, four places back from the end; whereas it can never go farther back than three. 66 66 The following cases, however, are to be noted as exceptions from this last rule: (1.) The w, which the Attic and Ionic dialects make use of in declension for the o of the other dialects, has no influence on the position of the accent. It is right, therefore, to accentuate ὑπέρπλεως (Attic and Ionic for ὑπέρπλεος); ρινόκερως, a rhinoceros;" dvváμews, of power;” Ατρείδεω, “ of 66 Atrides." 66 66 (2.) The same exception holds good of the syllables a and oɩ, as terminations in declension and conjugation. Hence we properly accentuate τpáñeĽaι, “ tables ;” Néyeral, “ it is said;” 66 |